Beyoncé Has Removed Kelis' "Milkeshake" Sample From “Energy” Song
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UPDATE: Beyoncé has officially removed Kelis' "Milkshake" interpolation from her Renaissance track "Energy." Kelis' name has also been removed from the song's credits on streaming services, but the original version where Kelis' "la-la,la,la,la" line from "Milkshake" was featured is still available on YouTube. News of Beyoncé's decision to cut the sample came after the singer's reps confirmed that she would also be removing the ableist term "spaz" in her song "Heated."
PREVIOUS: Beyoncé finally dropped her highly anticipated album, Renaissance, as the follow-up to 2016's Lemonade. In June 2022, Bey dropped the "Show Me Love"-sampled lead single, "Break My Soul," as an homage to the house music genre with assistance from rapper Big Freedia. Other songs on Bey's new album include samples and interpolations, including "Energy," which caused quite the stir once it dropped on July 29. Musician Kelis called out Beyoncé for allegedly interpolating her song, "Milkshake," without permission on Instagram.
"Milkshake" was released in 2003 and produced by The Neptunes, a.k.a Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. According to Genius, both Pharrell and Chad are credited as writers on Beyoncé's "Energy." Kelis is only credited for vocals as her song was interpolated.
"My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties [Beyoncé, Pharrell, and Chad] involved is astounding," Kelis commented from her company Bounty & Full's account on a fan's post about the interpolation. "I heard about this the same way everyone else did. Nothing is ever as it seems, some of the people in this business have no soul or integrity and they have everyone fooled." In a separate comment, she went on to say that the new track was not a collab, but "theft."
Kelis also took to Instagram Live on her own profile, and then saved it as a Reel for others to watch after it took place. "I said what I said, cause it's the truth. You don't have to like it or agree. Facts are facts," she captioned the post. "If you're a sheep keep it movin this convo will be over your head. I didn’t ask for this, but I'm not afraid of it either."
In the video, she called out both Beyoncé and The Neptunes for allegedly interpolating her song and claimed that they did not reach out to her for permission. "[Beyoncé] is one issue because it was stupid and disrespectful and she should have at least reached out," Kelis said. "But the real issue is the fact that the people like Pharrell and like Chad. Pharell knows better. This is a direct hit at me. He does this stuff all the time. It's very petty. And the reality is it's frustrating." Kelis went on to say that rising star Ashnikko, who has also sampled her work in new songs, had directly reached out to her for permission. "It's just common decency," she said.
Kelis claimed that she "had beef" with The Neptunes before her interpolation on "Energy." In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, she called out the production duo for "blatantly [lying] to and trick[ing]" her when it came to legal rights to her first two albums. "I was told we were going to split the whole thing 33/33/33, which we didn't do," she said in the interview. "Their argument is: 'Well, you signed it.' I'm like: 'Yeah, I signed what I was told, and I was too young and too stupid to double-check it.'"
According to an interview with Good Morning Britain, Robin S. (the original artist of "Show Me Love," which Bey sampled on "Break My Soul") was not contacted prior to the new song's release. Robin claimed that she learned about the sample because her son told her she was "trending all over the place." She did, however, go on to thank Beyoncé and Jay Z for "giving her her flowers" while she was still alive.
Beyoncé and her team have yet to comment.
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